Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Announces Layoffs
36Jan. 30, 2026
TheMuseum of Fine Arts, Bostonwill lay off thirty-three workers, or about 6.3 percent of its staff, this Friday as it struggles to reckon with a projected $13 million budget shortfall. The museum will also eliminate another twenty-three positions that are currently vacant, bringing the total percentage of positions cut to roughly 10 percent. TheBoston Globereports that the institution had previously tried to shrink its budget by paring back its hours and exhibition schedule, closing an entrance, and raising $40 million in cash reserves.
“Our challenge was to create a sustainable business model while remaining true to our mission,” said the museum in a statement. “Leadership came to this difficult decision only after careful consideration of every available option. It is with a heavy heart that we must take this difficult step and we are profoundly grateful to our departing colleagues for their years of commitment and many contributions.”
The cuts arrive less than six years after the museum eliminated more than a hundred jobs through voluntary early retirement and layoffs, and four years after unionized employees ratified their first contract with the institution under the auspices of United Auto Workers 2110. The union said that it expected sixteen unionized staffers and seventeen other workers to lose their jobs.
“Workloads at the museum are already high and cutting back on the very staff members who make the MFA, Boston such a great institution is a blow both to the affected individuals and to the institution itself,” said the union in a statement. “We expect to meet and bargain with the Museum over this matter to see if there ways to avert layoffs, to retain workforce diversity that is the strength of our institution, and to ensure that if there are to be layoffs of rank and file workers, that there be shared sacrifice from museum leadership.”
Boston NPR affiliate WBUR reports that nearly 1 million paying visitors attended the museum 2024. The number surpassed the historical pre-pandemic average by 37 percent, but remained significantly lower than the 2019 attendance figure of 1,351,000.